Imam Luqman Ahmad Mosque Without Borders

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَبَعْد

Slavery has always been a touchy topic in the Muslim world. In 1855, when the Ottoman Governor of Hijaz sent the order banning slavery to the District Governor of Mecca, he was instructed to read the order aloud in the sharia court of Mecca, in the presence of the scholars and the sharifs of Mecca. Those in attendance, obviously under pressure, ostensibly agreed to abide by the ruling.

However, Sharif Abdul-Mutallib of Mecca saw this as a long waited opportunity for revolt (again) against the Ottomans, so he ordered Shaykh Jamal the chief scholar of Mecca, to issue his own fatwa condemning the ruling, and declaring the Turks to be apostates and unbelievers, and that their blood was lawful, and that their children could be enslaved.

The Ottoman authorities, and Ottoman soldiers were attacked by mobs and local leaders. They forced the Ottoman appointed Judge to sign a counter declaration condemning the ruling prohibiting slavery. Eventually a jihad was declared against the Ottomans and that was the beginning of the (Wahabi) Arab revolution against them.

That revolution was crushed within a year (there would be another). But the Ottomans were wary of pro-slavery sentiment in Hijaz, so when the ban on slave trading of Blacks specifically, was announced in 1857 by the Ottomans, Hijaz was exempt from the order. Slavery would not be abolished in Saudi Arabia until 1962.

Saudi based scholars, and scholarship have had more influence over Black American Muslims and converts, than scholars from any other region on the planet. When vestiges of the post slave culture of the Arabian peninsula mixed with the pre-existing slave mentality of Black Americans who studied there, it was disastrous. You can still see the effects of it today in Black Muslim America how Black people in America will accept ridiculous fatwa coming from Saudi Arabia that would undermine brotherhood amongst American Muslims, undermine our relationship with our families, undermine our relationship with our neighbors, and undermine our well-being as Muslims living in America. Modern-day Salafi extremism itself has caused untold damage to Muslims living in America. This is one reason why it’s important to know our history. Below, slaves in Mecca, in the late 1800’s.

Imam Luqman Ahmad